Project Ouranos
by WisdomsOtherDaughter
Summary: Kidnapped from their lives, held against their will, and subject to cruel experimentation in an attempt to create the perfect soldiers, eleven teens, Clancy, Dennis, Seline, Lucius, Abbey, Alex, Jack, Erin, Leia, Marcus, and Calla must learn to control their new-found abilities, as well as keep one another sane. Human. But are they even that anymore? Welcome to Project Ouranos.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story. Although some of them, either I or other fans have created, and I have all the proper permissions to use them. All Percy Jackson characters and settings belong to Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note: **Project Ouranous is very loosely based on the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians _and _The Heroes of Olympus _series by Rick Riordan, and so there will be few mentions of any of his canon characters. The majority of characters in this story were created by either myself or other fans of the series. In this story, the gods do not exist, and the universe the story is set in is quite different than the Percy Jackson universe, but there will still be references to the series every now and then. Enjoy!

The place was almost silent, other than the sound of a pair of high heels clicking down the hallway. The woman walked, looking intently at the notes on her clipboard and chewing on the end of a pen. She flipped the paper over a few times, comparing notes on the front and back, and then nodded to herself, satisfied with what she found.

Eventually she came to a room labeled _Lab 008, _and knocked quietly on the door, looking back down the hallway she'd come from. When the door opened, it revealed a rather short man with a pair of round glasses on his face, and a lab coat. The woman nodded at him as he opened the door further to let her in, greeting him with a quick, "Ian," and turning her attention back to her notes. She walked further into the room until she approached a window; one that you might see looking in to an interrogation room. Looking up from her clipboard, the woman glanced into the room beyond the glass. "Any change?"

Ian walked up and stood beside her, adjusting his glasses on his face. "None. His vitals are still normal, but he just…sits there. It's like he's gone into a …stasis or something. We've even sent people in there to try to talk to him, but he doesn't respond."

The woman responded only by writing things down on her paper. For a moment, the scratch of her pen was the only sound that could be heard. And then after a minute or two of silence, she asked, "What else have you tried?"

"Well," Ian went over to grab his own clipboard, flipping through the notes that others had made on it, "we've tried shock - didn't even get a flinch out of him at a hundred and twenty volts – stimulation, even had Carl go in to try and physically move him. Nothing."

"Hmm." The woman replied simply, writing more notes. "And have you discovered anything on why he's in this state?" She asked, glancing into the room once more, staring at the figure in the chair as if she could get into his mind and find out what was going on with him.

"Not a whole lot, really. We figure that, after all the...procedures he's been through, his body just went into shock; almost like a hibernation mode, and it's using the very least amount of energy it can to keep him alive."

"So like a coma, then."

"Somewhat, yes, though this is…different. Normally people in comas, they dream, right?" Ian looked to the woman, and after seeing her nod in understanding, he continued, "Well, we've been monitoring his brainwaves, and they're… they're quiet. It's like he's keeping his mind blank on purpose. Like he's… meditating."

"Meditating." The woman repeated, contemplating the possibility. "I guess it's possible, but…_why?_"

"And that's what none of us can figure out." Ian replied, looking over his notes once more, as if searching for something he might have overlooked before that would answer all their questions.

"Hmm." Was all the woman said. She was rolling all of the possibilities around in her mind, just trying to figure it out. They needed him to recover. Their entire facility, the goal they hoped to achieve, all of it depended on the success of this one boy.

Finally making a decision, the woman looked up from her notes, her face full of determination. Ian looked at her with concern, but all she said was, "I'll go talk to him."

"What? No! That's not your job! We need you in he-"

"I don't care if it's my job or not, Ian. We _need _him to recover, and if I can help with that, then I won't pass up an opportunity when I see one."

Ian spluttered at her, trying to form words as his face turned red, but he could find no way to make her stay, and so with a sigh, he sat down. "Fine. If there's no swaying you, you can go, but if anything goes wrong – I mean it, _anything, _- you get out of there. Promise me." The woman said nothing. "Hey, _promise _me."

She sighed. "I'll get out of there if anything goes wrong." She paused. "Promise."

Ian let out a sigh of half-relief. "Alright. I'll be listening from in here." Ian flicked on a switch, and a red light started flashing next to a speaker.

With an exasperated sigh, the woman opened the door to the room beyond the window, and as she stepped in, she set her clipboard and pen on a small table by the door, pulled up a chair, and sat down quietly in front of the comatose boy.

He was no older than eighteen, at least, with a shock of black, shaggy hair atop his head. Though he was looking down at the floor, the woman new that his eyes were a brilliant green, and he had a little scar right beneath his left eye. She had spent many days looking at this boy in front of her, memorizing his features, and as she sat in front of him now, with all those tubes and wires hooked up to him, he looked almost nothing like the boy he'd been before.

Taking a deep breath, the woman rested her hands on her lap before she said, "Hey, c-can you hear me?" She paused, waiting for some kind of reaction from the boy. She got none. "Okay, well I know you can, even if you don't show it." Another pause; still no response. "Hmm, okay. You know, people here are worried about you. You've been…you've been sleeping for a long time now, and we need you to wake up, okay? There are a lot of people depending on you out here. People who have spent their lives working up to this moment, and so we just need you to wake up and help us finish this off, alright?" She stopped there, looking the boy over carefully.

After a moment she got off of her chair and crouched in front of him, putting a hand very carefully on the boy's shoulder.

Ian's voice through the speakers made the woman turn her head towards the window to shush him before turning her attention back to the boy. With her hand still resting very gently on his shoulder, she leaned in close and, in no louder than a whisper, said, "Wake up."

Suddenly the boy's head snapped up and he moved a hand up, faster than the woman would have thought possible, to grab her wrist in a powerful grip. His emerald green eyes locked with her own, and she saw recognition flash through them. Slowly, in a voice hoarse from misuse, he growled, "…You did this…"

There was an audible _pop_ as all the wires and tubes attached to the boy suddenly disconnected and fell to the floor, and anger filled the boy's expression. He abruptly stood from his chair and lifted the woman with him, throwing her backwards against the wall, then following and holding her in place with his forearm across her neck, cutting off her breathing. In a clearer voice now, his face only inches away from the woman's, he shouted at her, "You did this to me! All of this if your fault!"

There were black spots popping behind her eyes as she struggled for air, and she could faintly hear Ian's voice over the intercom, screaming for backup and for their lab to be locked down before the subject could escape, but none of it really registered in her mind. All she could do was stare into the eyes that glared at her with rage, as the boy who as easily a foot taller than her continued to shout. From the look in his eyes, she could tell he was going to kill her. She almost laughed. _Fitting, I guess, that he be the one to do it. He's right. I did this to him. It's my fault._

The woman could tell that she was about to pass out when her thoughts would no longer form, and from there the boy could either continue to choke her until she died, or he would simply break her neck. She knew that he had the strength to do it. As her vision started to fade, she was only able to mouth a few words to the boy before her vision went completely black.

Then suddenly she fell to the floor, and air rushed into her lungs as she coughed and struggled to stay conscious. She faintly heard a loud crash, and as he vision slowly returned to her, she looked to see the door fly off its hinges, and a figure with a shock of black hair flee from the room before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**I do not own the characters in this story. Although some of them, either I or other fans have created, and I have all the proper permissions to use them. All Percy Jackson characters and settings belong to Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note:**Project Ouranous is only very loosely based on the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_and _The Heroes of Olympus_series by Rick Riordan, and so there will be very few mentions of any of his canon characters. The majority of characters in this story were created by either myself or other fans of the series. In this story, the gods do not exist, and the universe the story is set in is quite different than the Percy Jackson universe, but there will still be references to the series every now and then. Enjoy!

_Four Years Later_

"_Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal." – Albert Camus_

You must be a really bad kid when even the school guidance counsellor tries to kill you, huh?

Seline couldn't place where the feeling came from, but as soon as she heard her name called over the intercom, a feeling of dread sunk into her stomach. She rose from her desk in her history class slowly, as if trying to prolong the meeting for as long as possible. She skulked towards the door of the classroom slowly; looking to her best friend for a look of encouragement, but the girl only rolled her eyes playfully and shoved her towards the door. Seline looked back at her and stuck her tongue out, before turning and walking down the hallway. _Room 209_, she'd been told to go to. That was…. The guidance counselor's office? Why on earth did they need her there? She'd only been to that room a few times, and that only when her dad had been called in because of some trouble that Seline had started at school, but she was _sure_ that she hadn't done anything this time.

At her school, the guidance counselor was basically the school therapist as well, and so that was where the "troubled kids" were often sent. But like she'd said, Seline had only been there a few times, so she figured she didn't quite fit into that category just yet.

There was this one boy in her fourth period math class, Percy, and almost every day, about halfway through the period, his name was called over the intercom, "Percy Jackson, please report to Room 209 _immediately._" The secretary always had a bit of an edge in her voice on that last part. He must have done something pretty bad to even get the staff of the school on his case. But no matter what he'd done to get there, he seemed to definitely e one of the more "troubled" of the troubled kids., Percy had developed quite the reputation over time, but whether or not he even deserved whatever punishment we was always getting, Seline had no idea, and no particular desire to find out, either. 

After about five minutes, Seline found herself staring at the black and white nameplate above the door. _Mrs. Shirley._ Huh, that wasn't the name that was usually displayed. Had Mrs. Roberts gotten fired? Seline couldn't imagine what for. The old lady had been a sweet person. She'd always listened to what the students had to say, which was a rare thing among teachers at this school, and she'd had these completely ridiculous cat-eye glasses from straight out of the seventies that made her look like Seline's grandmother. She'd been a little batty at times, but she'd made Seline laugh, and to be honest, she'd been one of Seline's favorites at the school.

But she shook that all off for now and knocked softly on the office door. After a second, a feminine voice called out, "It's open!" and so Seline opened the door and stepped into the room almost nervously.

Sitting at a desk at the other end of the room and typing away on a laptop was a woman with curly brown hair, wearing a green blouse and a black pencil skirt. For a minute all that could be heard were her fingernails tapping against the keys as Seline stood awkwardly at the door, but after a moment, Mrs. Shirley turned her head, saw her guest standing there, and abruptly stopped typing, closing the computer. She smiled cheerfully at Seline before saying, "Ah! You must be Seline."

She stood from her desk and walked over to a counter where an electric tea-kettle was starting to whistle. As she unplugged it, she spoke over her shoulder, "Come in, come in. Have a seat." She turned and gestured to a very comfortable looking chair against the wall closest to her desk. Slowly, Seline entered the room and walked to the chair, a presence of almost caution about her. She sank into the chair, setting her back pack at her feet as Mrs. Shirley bustled about with her tea kettle, grabbing two mugs and looking back to Seline. "Tea?" She asked sweetly, but her tone didn't help Seline calm down at all. She couldn't figure out why, but something about this woman, who looked like she couldn't hurt a flower, gave her a _really _bad feeling.

"No thanks." Seline replied simply, not even sure why she was in the woman's office yet.

"Are you sure? It's peppermint!" She insisted, gesturing to a small canister of tea bags.

Seline just shook her head, "No, I'm good. Thanks, though."

Mrs. Shirley shrugged, "If you say so." For a moment, Seline thought she saw a look of anger cross the woman's face, but she blinked, and then it was gone, leaving Seline unsure if she'd imagined it or not.

Mrs. Shirley took her mug of tea - which, now that Seline could smell it, actually seemed really good - and sat back at her desk, turning to Seline. "Now, you're probably wondering why you're here, yes?" At Seline's nod, she took a small sip of her tea before continuing. "Well you see Seline…" She paused again, as if struggling to find the right words, "I…I hate to tell you this, but… you've been expelled."

Seline froze where she sat. "_What?!_ What _for?_" Expelled! She hadn't done anything! Well, maybe she'd done a few things, but nothing bad enough to get her expelled!

Mrs. Shirley looked grim. "One of the teachers…they, uh," She seemed to be struggling to find a way to explain this properly to Seline. "They found drugs in your locker."

Seline's eyes were probably the size of dinner plates with her amount of shock. _Drugs?!_ "That's – What? That's impossible! I've never touched drugs in my entire life!" Seline was completely baffled. She had no idea what to even say. Oh God… What would her _dad_ say? Seline ran a hand through her hair, hardly able to think.

Mrs. Shirley didn't meet Seline's eyes, looking down at her shoes, as if ashamed to be the one who had to tell Seline this news. "I'm sorry, Seline. Whether it's true or not, there's an investigation going on now, and so for the time being, you've been asked to leave the school."

Seline felt like she was going to cry. She couldn't believe it. This wasn't possible! She'd never even come near drugs. She would never be that stupid. She pulled at her hair as she stressed internally. She could see Mrs. Shirley trying to smile comfortingly at her, but Seline paid her no attention. What would her dad think? God, what would she even say to him? Tears pricked behind her eyes at the thought of how he would look at her when he found out. _Oh god…Oh god. _She couldn't handle it. Not with Mrs. Shirley watching her carefully. She had to go. Abruptly she stood from her chair, grabbing her back pack and pulling it on to her shoulder.

At her sudden movement, Mrs. Shirley stood also, looking at Seline with eyes full of concern. "Seline? It'll be alright." Seline only shook her head. "Hey, why don't you sit back down, and we can talk about this for a little, alright?" She almost flinched when Mrs. Shirley put a hand on Seline's shoulder, gesturing for her to sit back down. She only shook her head again, walking towards the door. She needed some air – some time to think. She heard Mrs. Shirley sigh as Seline grabbed the doorknob, but the woman didn't try to stop her. Good. She pulled the door open and stepped out of the small room, closing it behind her a little harder than necessary.

Seline paused there for a few moments, taking some deep breaths to try and calm herself down, but it didn't work.

And then suddenly she heard Mrs. Shirley's voice from inside her office. "Andrew? It's done. She's gone." She couldn't be talking about Seline, could she? She waited there for another moment, to see if this 'Andrew' would respond, but there was nothing. It must have been a phone call.

Seline shook her head. It was probably nothing, right? She was just freaking herself out. Taking a deep breath in another attempt to clear her thoughts, she started walking. She may as well head home. There was no reason for her to stick around now.

Her mind still couldn't even register what had just happened. She'd actually been expelled. _Expelled!_ And because of drugs that someone had obviously planted! She ran her hands through her hair again, taking slow, deep breaths to calm herself. It was crazy. All of it.

As she continued walking, now on the sidewalk on her way home, she thought of her dad again, trying to prepare herself for how he would react. He would be so disappointed in her. Probably wouldn't speak to her for days.

At that though Seline's tears finally spilled over, and she quickly wiped her eyes, not wanting anyone walking passed her to see her cry. _Ugh, why did this have to happen to me?!_ She felt like hitting something. She felt like screaming and crying and throwing a tantrum like a five year old, but she knew that that would fix nothing, and so she wiped her tears once more and tried to think of a way to tell her dad.

At that moment there was the squeal of tires, and as Seline turned to look, a black van sped around the corner, going well over the speed-limit down the narrow street. Seline shook her head, figuring the vehicle would pass simply pass her and keep on its way, but almost as soon as she'd turned back around, she heard brakes screech loudly, the sound of a door being opened quickly, and then suddenly there were hands grabbing her, dragging her towards the van.

Seline kicked and screamed, struggling as hard as she could to free herself, but they were too strong. Her adrenaline had started pumping, and so somehow her mind had figured out that there were two people trying to grab her, both men, and both easily a foot or so taller than her. She continued to struggle against them as they got her closer to the van, but they were way too strong for her.

"_Let me GO!_" She screamed as loud as she could, kicking her feet out repeatedly, hoping to hit something. And by some miracle, her foot actually made contact. With a satisfying crunch, Seline's foot collided with one man's jaw, causing his to cuss and release his grip on her. The two men momentarily distracted, Seline jerked herself out of their grasp and took off sprinting down the street, no idea where she was going.

But it didn't take long before her would-be captors regained their composure and took off after her again. She didn't dare turn around, but she could hear them quickly gaining on her. She wouldn't be able to outrun them.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, a huge mass suddenly collided with her back, and she was sent sprawling to the ground, the side of her head hitting the sidewalk.

The air was swiftly knocked out of her lungs, and her vision went black as her head made contact with the cement, but she was still conscious; barely. One of her attackers was kneeling on her back, making her gasps for breath even shallower, and she could distantly hear their muffled voices speaking to one another, though she had no idea what they were saying. Without warning, there was a pinching feeling at the base of Seline's neck, and after a moment her thoughts started to cloud, a feeling of numbness settling over Seline's body.

She was distantly able to figure out that she'd been drugged before the pavement was suddenly gone from underneath her. She could feel arms around her once again, and she wanted to fight them, but she couldn't move. Her body felt like it weighed a million pounds, she could hardly even form a coherent thought at this point.

She felt herself being lowered down once more, then the sound of a door closing, and then suddenly she was floating, and everything went silent as she slipped out of consciousness.

Seline was woken up by a steady throbbing that was growing stronger in her head. She groaned as her eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the dim light around her. The first thing she noticed about her surroundings was the itchy carpet that her head was resting against; the second was the circle of blood around her face. She sat up with a start.

Bad idea. Her head immediately swam with the sudden movement, and she had to rest a hand against the wall to her left to keep herself from toppling over in the other direction. Squeezing her eyes closed and shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, it took Seline a moment before she could really look around to take in where she was.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked to the wall that her hand was still resting on. It was… plastic? Her vision was still blurry, her head groggy, and so she had to look closer to see what it actually was. It looked like the interior of a van.

The events of that afternoon suddenly came flooding back into Seline's head, and her thoughts started swimming again.

Her trip to the guidance counsellor's office, being expelled – _the van_. She remembered the two large men who had grabbed her literally from right off the sidewalk, and her eyes drifted back down to the circle of blood that had stained the van's carpeted floor. _Was it hers?_ The thought made Seline bring a cautious hand up to her head as she remembered hitting it on the concrete. She touched her temple gently, and when she took her fingers away, she gasped quietly at the sight of her blood.

A large bump in the road suddenly knocked Seline off balance, and she ended up leaning against the van's wall, resting her head against it and taking a few deep breaths she tried to register what had happened to her.

_She'd been kidnapped._ The realization left her mind reeling. That didn't happen to people in real life! It was something that happened in books and movies! And yet there she was, heading God-knows where in some van that belonged to crazy people who took random teenagers off the street. _Great._

Seline took a few more deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm. She wouldn't be able to deal with this if she freaked out. She had to keep her head. She decided to talk herself through it, to keep her mind occupied.

_Okay, first of all, have a look around. See where exactly you are, or if there's anything you could use to help you get out._ Shoving off the wall, the throbbing in her head having muted down to a dull ache by now, Seline sat with her legs crossed a foot or so behind the blood-stain on the floor.

Looking around the small space, Seline took in all the details she could. At both ends of the van, there were doors. At one end, the door was small and narrow, and Seline could hear muffled music, as well as the voices of her captors coming from beyond it. She moved over to it quietly and gently pressed her ear against the door, listening. Though the music made it difficult to hear, Seline could catch a few parts of the men's conversation, and it didn't sound too good.

"…Did she even say why we needed this one in particular? She's just some kid."

"Of course not, Logan. You should know by now that it's not our business to even ask about the subjects. Classified info and all." At the word _subjects_, a chill ran down Seline's back. _What were they planning on doing with her?_

Seline decided that it was best not to think about it at the time, and so she pulled away from the door, letting their voices trail off and trying to focus more on the music that was playing throughout the van. It was some old country song about a guy and his tractor or something. It quickly reminded her of how much she couldn't stand country music, but it was better than listening to what the men in the front seat were saying.

At the opposite end of the van, there was a large set of double doors with the windows spray painted black and the handles removed. _The back doors_. Slowly Seline crawled over to them, praying that somehow she could get them open. Kneeling in front of them, she looked them over for some kind of handle, or something that she could use to get them open. After a closer inspection, Seline noticed how fragile the door looked on its hinged. It must have been an old van. The thought struck hope in Seline's mind as she looked for some kind of latch.

Finally she saw something. In the place where the door's handle would have originally been, a small piece of the original was sticking out. _Perfect._ Patting her pockets to see if she had anything in them, Seline couldn't help but smile as she discovered her house-keys in her back pocket.

Her hands still a little shaky, Seline fumbled around with the keys a bit before inserting one of them into the small hole where the piece of the handle was sticking out and wiggling it around, praying for her idea to work. At first nothing happened, and so she tried putting a second key in, to give it a little more strength. She twisted it and turned it, pushed it in as far as it would go, and then suddenly-

There was a click as the door unlatched, and a small streak of daylight streamed into the small space, making Seline squint. _Thank God._ She could hear air rushing by as the van sped down the highway, and the occasional pieces of gravel go flying backwards. With a large sigh of relief, Seline put her keys back in her pocket and tried to open the door. But even as she pushed it, the door didn't budge. Its hinges must have been rusty or something.

Looking carefully back to the other door where the two men were inside, Seline had to come up with another idea quickly, praying that they wouldn't hear her and come to check if she was awake. For all they knew, she was still unconscious on the floor, and Seline hoped it would stay that way.

Sitting back on the carpet, Seline pushed gently against the door, testing it. It hardly moved, and so she tried again, with a little more force this time. Still nothing.

And so, with the beginnings of an idea starting to form in her head, Seline leaned back on her elbows, raising her feet in the air, and then with a sudden burst of strength, kicked the door as hard as she could.

A loud bang was sent through the whole vehicle, and not even a second later, whoever was driving the van slammed on the brakes, knocking Seline off balance again and sending her sprawling backwards. The music over the speakers was shut off quickly, and Seline could hear voices coming from the cab as she hurried to get herself back into position to kick the door once more.

"What the hell was that?!"

"I don't know! Go check, idiot!"

Seline could hear one of the men getting out of his seat and fumbling with the narrow door at the front end of the van. _She needed to get this door open._ Gathering her strength once more, she struck the door with her feet.

Another loud bang was sent throughout the vehicle as the door flew open, creaking on its hinges. At the same time, the door to the cab was thrown open, and a man's voice suddenly called out, "Andrew! She's awake!"

Seline moved without thinking, climbing to her feet as quickly as she could and jumping towards the now-open door at the same time that the man behind her jumped towards her, reaching to grab her feet.

Suddenly blinded by sunlight, Seline almost stumbled as her feet hit the pavement. She paused for only a second to regain her balance before taking off down empty highway as fast as her feet could take her.

A thought almost made her stop altogether. _She had no idea where she was._ She could have been in a completely different state by now. She had no idea how long she'd been unconscious. _But she had to keep going._

Behind her, she could hear the man screaming at his partner, telling him to "get his ass back in the van to cut the girl off!" Almost without a thought, Seline halted and took off into the ditch, climbing over a fence and taking off into a field. Behind her, she heard the van screech to a stop along the curb, as well as the sounds of her captors climbing out and running into the ditch after her.

By now Seline was already out of breath – she'd never really been much of a runner – but she couldn't stop. She couldn't let them take her. But they were both faster and stronger than her…_she'd have to hide somewhere._ She was already looking for a place to hide as she came to that realization. As her eyes scanned the area in front of her, they eventually settled on a rickety old cabin about a hundred meters or so away. Seline pooled up her remaining energy for a final burst of speed as she sprinted, hoping to gain at least a little distance from her pursuers.

By the time she reached the cabin, there were spots in Seline's vision, and it was all she could do to keep from falling over as she rounded the corner and searched for a door into the cabin. _There._ Seline ran over to it, a red-brown door with peeling paint that looked like it could be blown over by a gust of wind. Seline wasn't quite sure how she felt about going inside, but as soon as she heard footsteps behind her, all thoughts disappeared. She quickly lifted the wooden bar off of the door, tossing it aside, and pulled the door open, flinching as its hinges creaked. Not wasting a second, Seline stepped inside, pulling the door as closed as she could get it behind her, and then backing into the dark room, looking for a place to hide. Her way was lit only by the thin line of sunlight that was coming through the door.

The place was dark and smelled of dust and mildew. Old newspapers littered the floor, muffling Seline's footsteps, and there was wallpaper falling off of the walls from water damage. The roof was sagging, and Seline could swear she saw a bird's nest in one of the walls – all in all, the entire place was a wreck, but Seline couldn't focus on that right then. She still needed a place to hide.

And then suddenly there was the creak of hinges and the room was filled with sunlight. With a gasp, Seline dove behind a mouldy old sofa with torn fabric, leaning against the back of it and holding her breath, listening closely to the footsteps that belonged to her captors. From the sounds of it, they were near the door still, probably scanning the room for her, and Seline was praying to whatever god might be listening that they would figure she wasn't there and leave. It was a useless hope, she knew, but there wasn't much else she could do.

Seline squeezed her eyes shut as the footsteps got closer; making her breaths as quiet as she possibly could, which was difficult after having run so far. But thankfully it sounded as if the men were out of breath as well, so she was able to at least try to catch her breath.

"Any sign of her?" One of her captors asked in barely more than a whisper; Seline had to strain to hear him.

There was no response, and so Seline had no idea if they could see her or not. She tried to curl in on herself; make herself as small as possible, as if she could somehow turn invisible if she tried hard enough. The men were hardly making any noise now, and so Seline had no idea what part of the room they were in. They must have been communicating with hand signals or something.

There were the sounds of clicking and rattling of something Seline couldn't place for a few moments, the creak of a door – though not the same type of creak that the front door had made - and then the room returned to its eerie silence. It took all of Seline's willpower not to leave her hiding place and look to see if they'd left the room. If anything, they'd just split up and one of them was still looking for her in there.

The sharp sound of something metal being knocked over made Seline flinch, and she heard someone cuss, before giving an audible sigh and kicking whatever they'd tripped over aside. Seline flinched again at the sound - it had been close – but stayed still.

"Well, I guess there goes my stealth." One of her captors declared, with normal volume now. He had a deep voice, with just a hint of a southern accent to it. "You've caused us a lot more trouble than you're worth, girl, you know that, right? So why don't you just come out now, and we can get this over with." He sounded like he was teasing her, trying to draw her out of hiding. Seline wouldn't fall for it. "No? Fine then, if you're determined to play hide and seek with me." He sighed, and there was another click – Seline still couldn't place its source. She pressed herself back further against the mildew couch, as if she could merge herself with the fabric.

The footsteps were right behind the couch now, and Seline's breath caught in her throat._ He was going to find her. He was going to find her._ She squeezed her eyes shut once more, as if doing so would keep him from seeing her, and waited.

Her eyes filled with tears as the footsteps came around the couch, stopping just to her right. "Gotcha." His voice was smug, mocking her. As Seline opened her eyes, a few of her tears spilled over, and she quickly blinked them away, turning her head to face the man who was now pointing a gun at her face. Somewhere in her mind Seline pieced together that that had been the clicking noise she'd heard. The man smiled at her with a mock-apologetic smile, "Aww, no need to cry." He was still teasing her, challenging her to try anything. She only sat there. "Okay, come on. Let's go. We're behind schedule as it is." He gestured at her with the gun, telling her to stand, and Seline slowly climbed to her feet, her muscles now starting to feel the after-effects of running. "'Atta girl, nice and easy." When she was balanced on her feet, the man gestured with the gun once more, his grip on the trigger never faltering. "Now was that so hard? Definitely not worth all the trouble of running, right?" His smug smile made Seline feel sick, and so she just looked down at her feet, not saying anything. She flinched as the man put a hand on her shoulder, stepping behind her and shoving her forward roughly. "Let's go."

As she straightened up again, Seline could feel the cold barrel of the man's gun pressed against her back as they walked forward. The man called out to his partner, and within a few moments he had joined them again and the three of them left the old cabin.

It took them longer to reach the van this time, since none of them were running, and Seline stumbled a few times, her legs feeling as if they weighed a hundred pounds, but each time she stumbled, the man merely pointed his gun at her and waited for her to get back up.

By the time they reached the vehicle – its back doors still wide open – Seline was breathing heavily, though her captors seemed just fine. The one with the gun, hardly a step behind her, shoved her roughly towards the van, but in a final scramble to get away, she twisted out of his grip and tried to grab the gun. But before she'd hardly even moved a muscle, she was rammed against the side of the van, a forearm across her throat and a gun at her temple, forcing her to look her captor in the eyes.

"_Listen to me," _he snarled at her, his eyes – which Seline now realized were blue – full of a mixture of anger and just pure annoyance. "There is only one reason why there isn't a bullet in your skull right now, you hear me? And that _will_ change if you try something. Understood?" Seline said nothing, and so he pressed his forearm harder against her neck, cutting off her breaths completely. "_Do you understand?_" Her lungs had started to burn from lack of oxygen, and so Seline could only nod her head before gasping and coughing as the arm was removed. The man's gaze never left her own until he grabbed her by the sleeve and shoved her towards the van once more. She climbed in reluctantly, and right when she thought they were going to slam the doors on her, the man with the gun climbed in behind her, leaning casually against the interior's wall and fiddling with the gun. When he saw her staring, he smiled, though it was far from a friendly smile. "Can't have you trying anything again, can we?" He said with a dark chuckle, gesturing to the gun.

With that, Seline looked down at her feet, having a sudden interest in the details of her shoelaces. The door of the van was slammed shut behind them, and the small space was once more plunged into its dim light. As the van lurched into motion, the man suddenly asked, "See? Isn't this so much easier?" Seline said nothing, still staring at the floor. He chuckled. "Not in a talking mood? Fine, have it your way." And the van went silent.

The rest of the ride continued that way, about an hour of complete silence - the radio stayed off this time – until finally, long after Seline's butt had gone numb from sitting on the uncomfortable floor of the van, the brakes squeaked, and the vehicle lurched to a stop.

From the front seat, the other man's voice called back, "Hey, we're here."


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**I do not own the majority of characters in this story. Although some of them, either I or other fans have created, and I have all the proper permissions to use them. All Percy Jackson characters and settings belong to Rick Riordan.

**Author's Note:**Project Ouranous is only very loosely based on the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_and _The Heroes of Olympus_series by Rick Riordan, and so there will be very few mentions of any of his canon characters. The majority of characters in this story were created by either myself or other fans of the series. In this story, the gods do not exist, and the universe the story is set in is quite different than the Percy Jackson universe, but there will still be references to the series every now and then. Enjoy!

"_Hey, we're here."_

"Finally." The man with the gun - who Seline had decided was Logan – spoke with a sigh. Seline could almost hear the smug smile on his face. It took a few moments before his partner – who Seline had dubbed Andrew – climbed out of the cab and came to open up the back door, and then once more, the dimly lit space was flooded with sunlight, making Seline squint and shield her eyes.

Logan climbed out first, handing his gun off to Andrew as he stretched out his arms and back. Andrew kept the gun ready in his hand in case Seline were to try anything, but Seline barely had the energy to pull herself up onto her knees and crawl out of the van. She definitely wouldn't be able to run away again. As soon as Seline was on her feet on the ground –she barely had a moment to look around and see that they were in the middle of absolutely nowhere – a dark bag was thrown over her head and she was shoved forward, a voice behind her ordering her to get moving and the cold barrel of a gun was pressed against the small of her back.

After the bag was thrown over her head, Seline was led by her captors for a minute or two, before they paused. Since she was blinded for the time being, she had to rely on her other senses to tell her what was happening. There was the loud buzzing sound of an intercom, and then silence as they waited for a response. For a long time, there was nothing, but right when Seline was starting to think that none would come, a voice suddenly said "You're late." The voice was female, her tone bored and impatient; very business-like.

The gun being pressed against her back never faltered as the man to her right – she'd lost track of which was which – replied to the voice, sounding exasperated. "Yeah, we know. Ran into some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Doesn't matter. You plan on letting us in?" The man seemed frustrated, not that Seline was concerned about that in the slightest – He could go jump off a bridge, for all she cared.

"What kind of trouble?" The woman's monotone voice was persistent, and the man to Seline's left let out a heavy sigh.

"Goddammit, Joanne. Let us in. We'll explain later, we've got stuff to finish up now."

The voice over the intercom sighed once, before a loud buzz sounded from what must have been a gate in front of them. The barrel of the gun was pressed harder against Seline's back, telling her to resume walking, and she complied without a comment, still trying to make a map of where they were going in her head. Then suddenly the sun was no longer beating down on her shoulders, the gravel beneath her feet suddenly replaced with tiled floor, and she could feel the slight breeze of an air conditioner on her legs.

They walked in silence, the only sound coming from their footsteps, and so Seline focused more on drawing out the map in her head. They walked forward for a bit; Seline counting her steps mentally, still wondering where the heck she was.

About twenty two steps into the building, Seline suddenly stumbled, nearly toppling all the way over before a rough hand grabbed her shoulder, balancing her. "Watch your step." Logan mocked, his voice coming from her left.

"Ha. You're funny." Seline grumbled, her voice completely devoid of emotion as she gestured to the bag over her head.

"…Whatever." She was shoved forward to get moving again, and the trio fell back into silence.

Left turn, twenty five steps, right turn, fifty six steps, right again, thirty four steps, left, fourteen steps, pause. _Ding. _Three steps forward, pause, then suddenly they were going down. Quiet music was playing overhead. _They were in an elevator._ Seline listened carefully to the quiet dings of the elevator, calculating just how many floors they were descending. It took fifteen dings for the elevator to finally glide to a halt, and without wasting a second, her captors shoved Seline forward again. Thirty two steps before they paused once more, though this time the gun barrel was removed from Seline's back. She didn't have to check to know that Logan would still be holding it ready to fire a few feet behind her. She remained still.

The voice from the intercom earlier was suddenly a few feet in front of her, curiosity now replacing her previous monotone. "This is her?" It asked. Logan and Andrew must have nodded, because she responded without a vocal response. "…She doesn't look like much." Seline glared in the direction the voice was coming from, her vision still in darkness. _You wouldn't look too great either if you'd just been hunted down by two psychos, Lady._ She grumbled internally. "May I?" The voice asked curiously, and then suddenly the bag was pulled from over Seline's head, frizzing up her hair and causing her to blink frantically at the sudden light.

Before her eyes could adjust fully, a cold hand was on her chin, maneuvering Seline's head so she was forced to look at a tall red haired woman standing in front of her. She had square-framed glasses perched on her nose, and her ginger hair pulled up in a bun. Her fingernails dug into Seline's skin roughly as she turned her head right and left, looking her over carefully. Without releasing her grip, the woman looked over Seline's shoulder to where the two men were standing behind her.

"And from the looks of you two, I'm assuming she put up a bit of a fight?" The woman laughed, a cold, un-genuine laugh, and released her grip on Seline's face, taking a half-step back to look the girl over fully. Seline had to resist the urge to make a snide comment about the men. She was in enough trouble as it was. When the men didn't respond, the woman merely shrugged. "Whatever. Carry on." She pressed a button and a door about five yards in front of them slid open loudly, though what was beyond it was abruptly cut off as the bag was once more pulled over Seline's head.

Fifty six steps forward, left turn, thirty two steps, down a stair case, twenty five steps… Seline stopped counting, there was no way she would remember the way out at this point. She was almost convinced that the men had walked her in circles just to confuse her, and by now, she couldn't remember most of the steps she'd calculated since they'd entered the building. She sighed and just let the men keep leading her, her determination to escape fading more and more the further underground they went.

The group paused in front of a door, and Seline heard one of the men swipe some sort of card into a keypad before the door creaked open loudly. She was led forward for a few more steps, but froze in her tracks when a blood-curdling scream filled the corridor they were walking through, making Seline's blood run cold and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She looked rapidly for the source of the scream even though her vision was still blocked by the bag. She received no explanation of what it was. Seline was only shoved forward once more, her captors sighing impatiently.

She refused to move, though. The scream had been female, ringing out with a clear sense of agony. "What _was_ that?!"

The man to her right chuckled, though Seline failed to see anything humorous about the situation. "That? That's just Ian. He's…working." The other man laughed at this, then shoved Seline forward once more. "Keep moving."

Seline reluctantly resumed walking, chills still running down her spine as her feet clicked against the now-concrete floor. In a half-hearted attempt to keep herself from panicking further, Seline resumed counting her steps, although she had long lost track of her previous calculations. Thirty two steps in past the door with the key-card, then a right, fifteen steps, a left, and then they stopped, one of her captors removing the bag from over her head.

Squinting again at the sudden brightness, although now it was dimer than it had been before, Seline's eyes adjusted to find herself looking at a heavy metal door, with bolts along the edges and a small barred window near the top. It looked like a seriously high security prison door.

…And Seline could already tell that she was supposed to go in there.

With the gun's barrel removed from her back, Seline whirled around desperately to face her captors, her expression pleading. "Please don't make me go in there."

The men only laughed, before Logan – Seline thought. She was starting to lose track of who was who – said in a mock-sympathetic voice, "Sorry honey, job's a job." With that, Andrew walked up to the door with a key and unlocked it. There was a loud clang as the bolt in the door moved with the key, and then the shrill screech of the door's hinges as Andrew pulled it open. The giant door – which turned out to be three inches thick and completely made of metal – opened to reveal a small eight by twelve cell. Without even giving her a chance to look inside of the cell, one of the men behind her shoved Seline forward roughly, causing her to trip over her already-exhausted feet and fall to the hard floor inside the cell. They then pulled the door quickly shut, its hinges squealing in protest, then the key in the lock, and then the clang of the bolt sliding home, sounding with a note of finality.

Seline climbed quickly to her feet, moving to the door and standing up on the very tips of her toes to try to see through the small window and shouting, "Wait! You can't just _leave_ me in here! Stop! Come back! _Wait!_" But they didn't wait. Seline could swear that she heard them laughing to themselves as they walked away from her new cell, not looking back, and definitely not answering any questions she had.

Seline screamed at the empty hallway for a few minutes after that, but after it seemed apparent that the two men weren't coming back, she gave up and collapsed to the floor with a defeated sob. She had no idea where she was, or even _why_ she was there; she didn't know what use she could possibly be to these people who were all obviously _insane;_ and she had no idea how long they expected her to be there. A thought suddenly passed through Seline's mind, making her blood run cold. _She could seriously die in here._ That scream she'd heard earlier. It had been one of complete and utter agony. She hadn't seen its owner, but wherever she'd been, the scream had made Seline stop in her tracks. She didn't even want to know what might have been going on that would have caused a scream like that. And what if she was taken to that same place?

Seline collapsed to the hard floor, her body shaking with fear. She was terrified. Earlier she'd been running on pure adrenaline, and it had been keeping her at least partially calm. Now that she was still, she felt cold, she felt tired, and her mind kept replaying that scream over and over in her head, filling her with fear and an overall sense of hopelessness.

She couldn't bring herself to stand from the floor again, and so she simply turned herself around and sat there, leaning back against the door. Seline looked around the cell, taking in what few details she could. The walls were a dull white-grey color, and the ceiling was low. There were no windows, and a single light bulb shone down on her, lighting the room with a dim orange light. In the corner against the left wall of the room, there was a small cot with a small pillow and an itchy-looking blue blanket spread out across the mattress. The cot itself appeared to be a simple iron-work bed, low to the ground with rust beginning to deteriorate its legs. Next to the cot there was a small wooden table, nothing on it. On the opposite side of the room, there was a single shelf hanging on the wall, no more than three feet long, and probably wide enough to fit a book on. Other than that, there was nothing else in the room. One of the walls had faint signs of water damage in its top corner, and the plaster was beginning to show signs of cracking.

Wait.

As her eyes scanned over the room, something caught Seline's eye. Turning her head to the right, she saw…was that a computer screen? Her curiosity sparked and she pulled herself to her feet, her muscles still feeling tired and weak. She stepped over to the small screen built into the wall to the right of the door, a small sense of almost-hope filling her once again. Maybe she could actually get some information out of this thing?

Looking the chest-height console over, she noticed a small button next to a slot in the wall beneath the screen, and with pure curiosity guiding her actions, pressed it. She let out a surprised gasp as a keyboard slid out of the slot, sitting ready for her to use. The screen lit up as the keyboard was released, a small scanner at its base, and Seline paused, the cautious part of her brain finally kicking in.

She was a little unsure of how to proceed as the computer booted up, and so she chewed her fingernails as she waited, an old nervous habit of hers deciding to bring itself back. Seline couldn't help but glance to the door every few seconds. What if those men decided to come back and saw her there? If this was something that she wasn't supposed to be touching, she would definitely get in some kind of trouble. Seline most definitely did not want that; those mysterious screams were still ringing in her head.

But all thoughts were washed from her head as the screen came to life, an unfamiliar logo coming onto the screen, accompanied by blinking white letters that read "_Welcome to the Mars Industries Database. Please scan your subject chip to proceed"_

Mars Industries. Seline had never heard of it. And what did it mean by subject chip? Well, whatever it was, she didn't have it, so there wasn't much she could really do other than stare back at the blinking letters that seemed to be taunting her, seemingly saying, _You can't do anything here, just like you can't do anything to get away. You're stuck here. _

Frustrated, Seline shoved the keyboard back into its slot, and the screen went dark. But there was something at the edge of her mind, something she could almost remember, and that she felt was very important. Something about the logo.

Seline swore she'd never seen it before, and yet at the same time, something about it struck a feeling of familiarity in her mind. It was a small blue circle with a white design in its center, forming two intricately shaped letters. "M.I". Seline couldn't help but pace back and forth across the cell as she tried to recall it, but she got nothing. And now with her adrenaline fully worn off, her mind was beginning to cloud with signs of drowsiness. So when she passed by the cot during her pacing, Seline collapsed down onto it, discovering that it was a rather uncomfortable mattress, but she was suddenly too tired to care. Resting her head down on the flat pillow, Seline was asleep within seconds.

That night Seline dreamt of a long, unlit hallway. There were cell doors on both walls, but she could not see the end. It seemed to go on forever, an abyss of blackness in front of her. And she was being chased. She didn't dare look behind her, so she had no idea what was chasing her, but all she knew was that she _had to get away_. Something was telling her that her life depended on it. She could hear footsteps behind her, though she couldn't pinpoint how many different sets there were, as well as voices, loud and yet muffled, shouting behind her. But she just kept running, never reaching the end of the hall, never seeing a door she could go through. But she kept going, her legs getting heavier with each cell door she passed.

And then suddenly there was a patch of orange light on the floor about 25 feet in front of her. Seline felt her chest flood with hope as she approached it. An open door! Not wasting a second, Seline flung the door open, only to be greeted by a cell. Her cell, to be exact. Nowhere to go but back, now, she decided quickly, but as Seline turned to run from the cell, she was greeted by the large form of Logan, her captor, holding the barrel of a gun mere inches from her face. He had that same smug smile on his face, just as be had before, and he appeared to be speaking to her, but Seline could hear no words. The smile soon disappeared, and Logan now was shouting at her, though there was still no sound. He paused, and Seline saw his mouth form the word, "Goodbye."

A scream that was not her own filled the room as Logan pulled the trigger.

Seline's eyes flew open, and she sat up with a start, breathing heavily. It was a dream. Just a dream. She was okay.

Except not really. She was still in her cell, she still had no idea where she was, and she was still haunted by the inescapable thought telling her that she might die there.

So no, she wasn't really okay, but she was alive. Alive was good for now; the rest could be worked out later. She just had to keep calm and get information, and then she could work on a way to escape.

But all thoughts of escape and answers were cut off as the lock on Seline's cell door suddenly shrieked and was pushed open, revealing a figure that Seline had not expected to see again. _Mrs. Shirley._ Her school's guidance counsellor – or at least, that's what Seline had thought she was at the time. But apparently she was something else entirely. A psycho, just like everyone else in this freaking place. The petite woman stepped carefully into Seline's cell, eyeing the girl on the cot as though she might get up and attack her at any second. And with good reason – as soon as she recognized the woman, Seline had been filled with anger. _It's her fault I'm even in this situation!_ she thought to herself, glaring daggers at the brunette in front of her.

Mrs. Shirley cleared her throat, as if making sure that Seline was paying attention to her. "Good morning, Seline." She began, making her face expressionless. "Did you sleep well?" She was mocking her. Seline couldn't believe her nerve; after everything she'd done to Seline, indirectly or not, and she felt like she could just go and straight up _make fun of her?_ Seline could feel her anger increase, but still she said nothing, awaiting the woman's next words. But the woman only stood there, her eyes scanning Seline up and down, as if taking in her every flaw or imperfection. Her gaze made Seline very uncomfortable, and she wanted to somehow hide herself, but there was nowhere she could go.

Even as the woman began to walk in slow circles around Seline, like a vulture circling its next meal, she remained still. And when the woman eventually went behind Seline, she could still feel her ice-cold gaze drilling holes into her back; it raised gooseflesh on her arms. A sudden hand touching her hair from behind made Seline physically flinch as the woman – Mrs. Shirley, whatever. Seline didn't really feel like calling her anything right now – gently, as if examining a specimen of some kind, let Seline's long hair run through her fingers.

"Shame." The woman began suddenly, letting Seline's hair slip out of her hand. "You're not nearly as pretty as the last one was. In fact, not pretty at all, really." It was clear now that the woman was just insulting her out of spite now. Seline usually had pretty good self-esteem, but with the woman's condescending gaze still looking over every inch of her, Seline couldn't help but feel very _small_, at the time. "And such dirty hair," the woman continued, taking another handful of the girl's tangled brunette hair in her hand – much rougher this time. She continued her circle as she spoke, suddenly grabbing hold of Seline's hand, holding it up in front of her face. "And her _fingernails_. We'll definitely need to clean these up." It seemed like she was talking to herself, but it was still clear that Seline was fully intended to take her words to heart when she suddenly looked the girl straight in the eye. "Didn't your father ever let you bathe, Seline?"

Seline's anger had been growing towards this woman ever since she'd stepped foot into the room, and now it took every bit of willpower Seline had in her body not to lash out at the woman. She was trying to get a reaction out of the girl. Seline could see that now. And she was close to getting one, too. At the mention of her father, Seline flinched once more, tearing her eyes from the woman's gaze to stare at the floor, clenching her hands into fists and saying nothing. The woman had stopped her circling around the girl, and now stood in front of her, the toes of her shoes about a foot away from Seline's. But Seline refused to look at her. She would not give her the satisfaction of seeing the anger on Seline's face. "Aww," The woman mocked once more, suddenly stepping to Seline's right and putting an arm over her shoulder, squeezing her in a sardonic hug. "You miss him, don't you?" Seline wanted to slap her for the sarcastic tone in her voice, but she continued to stand still. "You know, if you wanted, we could get Logan and Andrew back there to go and get him for you, even bring him here! Wouldn't that be fun?"

Seline snapped her head up to glare daggers into the woman's eyes. "Don't touch him!" Her father would _not_ be dragged into this mess along with her.

"Oh, but why not?" She had a whining tone to her voice now, though the scorn never ceased. "Actually, maybe you're right. He probably wouldn't even be happy to see you anyway. Little Seline, always getting in trouble at school, low grades, oh- and he knows about the drugs. Probably thinks he's the father of a teenage runaway now. He must be so disappointed in you, Seline. He probably never wants to speak to you aga-"

"_Shut up!_" Seline cut the woman off in a burst of pure rage, moving out from beneath her arm to face the woman, shoving her backwards. "_You don't know anything about him, or about me!_"

Seline's anger suddenly evaporated when she saw the woman…grinning. She'd gotten exactly the reaction she'd been looking for. "On the contrary, sweetheart. We do our research here. We know a lot more about you and your father than you think." Seline opened her mouth to speak, but the woman continued, cutting her off. "You grew up in Bixby, Oklahoma, only child of Aaron and Heather McRoy. When you were six years old, poor, dear, Heather died in an accident on her way home from work one day." Seline was stunned into silence, but still the woman went on. "After your mother died, you and your father moved to New York, where you've lived since. Your grades are faltering between failing and average, but you try your best not to tell your father, because you don't want him to worry. And yet he still gets called in when your temper gets the best of you in school, and you can't help but see the disappointment in his eyes each time your principal explains the situation to him… shall I go on?" Seline couldn't have said anything even if she'd wanted to. Her only thought was _How?_ How could they have possibly gotten this information about her? "No? Well, you see my point then." The woman went on, "We know _everything _about you, Seline." She had a cruel smile on her face that made Seline sick to her stomach. "And so what is there _possibly_ to stop us from, oh, I dunno," She made a pretend gun with her hand, and pantomime-pulled the trigger, making a quiet _pew! _sound.

Seline lunged, her anger as well as fear for her father guiding her actions. She jumped forward, her hands going for the woman's throat, which honestly surprised herself. She'd never been a very violent person. Sure, she'd gotten into the occasional fight at school, but she'd never think to actually try to _kill_ someone.

Was that was she was doing now? Would she really try to kill this woman? The thoughts made Seline falter right as her hands would have caught the woman's neck, and Mrs. Shirley saw her opportunity. Driving a knee up into Seline's stomach, the girl suddenly let out a wheeze as the air suddenly rushed out of her lungs and she fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

The woman stepped back towards the door, calling out for someone, though Seline couldn't catch the name with the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. A moment later, a man who Seline had never seen before entered the small cell. He was a small man, tall but fairly scrawny-looking, a shaggy head of brown hair on his head, a pair of round glasses perched on his nose and a white lab coat on. He entered the room cautiously, looking around as if scouting for danger. Of course, the only possible danger in the cell was crumpled on the floor, shaking as she struggled to get air back into her lungs. When his eyes settled on her, he looked back to the woman for a moment, as if confirming the answer to a question that Seline still couldn't hear. He approached her, treating her as if she were some animal that would bolt at the slightest disturbance. Seline made a half-cough/gasp half-sarcastic laugh kind of sound. Where could she possibly even run to? But nonetheless, the man eventually knelt down in from of her, and Seline could see his mouth moving, but the sound was still drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in her ears.

It took him a moment, but eventually he seemed to realize that Seline couldn't actually hear him, and so he trailed off, giving Seline a few seconds to catch her breath. When the sound of a fan somewhere off in the distance finally reached her ears, Seline let out a quiet sigh of relief, although her stomach was still aching from the impact of the woman's knee. At least she could breathe again.

"Seline, can you hear me?" It was the man in the lab coat. He had a quiet voice, soothing, almost. When he noticed that she was responding to sound again, he gave a small nod to himself, as if making a mental list of… something. Must have been a thing you picked up as a scientist, or whatever he was. "Good. Seline, my name is Ian."

_Ian._ No. No, no, no, no, no way. Not this soon. The day before, when Seline had heard that scream that still echoed in her mind, either Logan or Andrew had said it had been caused by "Ian working". When she pieced this together in her mind, Seline's eyes widened in fear, and she moved backwards, trying to make as much space between the two of them as possible before her back met with the cold plaster wall of the room.

Ian sighed and stood up, simply walking towards Seline again. "Don't touch me." Seline warned when he got within close proximity of her once more. He thankfully took the hint and stopped about three feet away from her, looking her over carefully. Mrs. Shirley was now left standing awkwardly in the corner while Ian went on with whatever it was that she had called him in here to do.

Keeping his voice calm, Ian asked, "How are you feeling, Seline?"

And she actually laughed out loud. "Are you completely stupid or something? _How am I feeling?_ Oh, I'm just peachy, _Ian._" She said his name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. "Got kidnapped off of the freaking _sidewalk_ yesterday, drugged, chased, threatened at _gunpoint_, and locked up, but oh, that's just all part of a regular day. I feel just freaking _perfect._ And how are you? How's the wife and kids?" It was probably just the leftover shock of the situation settling in on her mind that was making Seline speak so irrationally like this, but at the moment she honestly didn't care. What kind of question was that?

But Ian merely rolled his eyes as if he got that answer multiple times a day. Then again, maybe he did. Who knew how many other people they were keeping in here? But as he completely shrugged off her sarcastic remark, Ian continued to look her over, as if inspecting her for an injury or something. "Any headache or nausea? Seeing spots at all?" The way he spoke reminded Seline of a doctor. In this case he was a psychotic doctor who apparently caused people serious pain, but he just looked like a normal guy. He definitely lived up to the saying _looks can be deceiving._ Seline only shook her head in response to his questions; she felt fine, more or less. Ian nodded to himself again before "And no blackouts or tunnel-vision of any kind?" She shook her head again. "Great." Ian had a half-smile on his face as he stood up, walking towards the door once more. He paused before passing Mrs. Shirley, telling her quietly, "The drugs seem to be completely out of her system. She should be ready by tomorrow morning."

The woman looked back at Seline, an almost smug smile coming to her face. "Excellent. And her chip will be ready by then?" She spoke to Ian without breaking eye contact with Seline, the girl glaring at her all the while. At the word 'chip', Seline's arms were once again covered with goose-bumps

"It should be, yes. I had Joanne send it in for development as soon as she arrived."

"Wonderful. She'll definitely be…interesting."

Seline still had chills going up and down her spine as they spoke; what did they mean? What would she be ready for in the morning? What kind of chip were talking about? Seline found herself getting very frustrated with the profound lack of answers she was getting. But right as she opened her mouth to demand explanation, Ian turned and looked back at her, making her words falter. Despite being such a small-looking man, Ian was… intimidating. He didn't look the part in the slightest, but when Seline made eye contact with him, she could see a look of excitement in his expression. It made her shudder.

Ian let out a huff of breath, and then turned back to the woman. "Well, I guess we're done here." He started to walk out of the room as he spoke. "Shall we go check on the others?" He was out of the door now, and so Seline could just see the edge of his lab coat through the threshold as he paused, barking a quick order. "Quinn, come along. I don't think I trust you alone with her anymore." Quinn? Huh. She gave a final glare to Seline before following Ian out of the room and closing the door. Seline flinched at the screech of the lock sliding into place, but she couldn't help but be grateful that Ian had taken Mrs. Shir- Quinn with him. Seline wanted to keep any time she might spend with her in the future to an absolute minimum.

She could hear the faint sounds of Ian explaining something to Quinn, getting quieter as they continued down the hallway, and then silence as they left earshot. She was alone again.

For a minute or two, the only sound was that of Seline's breathing, slow and mechanical as she once again tried to supress her sense of absolute panic. She would _not_ lose it. She had to stay calm. But Quinn's words kept echoing in her mind, each one chipping at the stone wall Seline had around her emotions, dropping her closer and closer to a full out panic as her mind twisted the words.

_Didn't your father let you bathe, Seline?_

_ You can't help but see the disappointment in his eyes._

_ He probably doesn't want to see you._

_ He probably doesn't miss you. _

_ He's disappointed in you, Seline._

_ He doesn't love you, Seline._

_ He probably doesn't even realize you're gone._

As her mind kept going, twisting the words to worse and worse things, with no way for Seline to reign them in, Seline's walls had crumbled within mere minutes. She ended up sitting there, back against the wall, relentless sobs shaking her frame and tears rushing down her face. She had her knees pulled close to her chest, face buried in her crossed arms, and she probably sat there for a good half an hour before the sobs finally let up. She wasn't even crying because of her father at this point. Her mind had slipped into hysteria, and even when the thoughts of her father had passed, the sobs continued. If she tried to take a deep breath to try to calm herself down, it would hitch in her throat, leaving her breathing in short, desperate gasps. If she tried to contain the sobs, they would end up just shaking her body even harder. And so she decided somehow to just let her hysteria run its course, hoping it would fade at all.

By the time her sobs finally ceased, Seline's eyes could produce no more tears, and her entire body just felt exhausted. She sat there for a few moments, breathing slowly, trying to piece her shattered composure back together. When she was able to think clearly once more, Seline climbed shakily to her feet, her backside numb from sitting on the cement floor. She used the wall as support to get her balance for a moment, and then walked slowly to the bed in the corner, sitting herself down on it. She sat for a few seconds, before pulling her feet up onto it and laying back, resting her head on the pillow that actually felt much more comfortable than it had the night before.

She found herself staring at the ceiling then, her mind blank, her muscles unmoving; and after a while, she just kind of, zoned out. Unaware of the world around her, Seline just sat there, not seeing anything, not hearing anything, for who knows how long, until an insistent sound finally drew her back into the land of the living.

She found herself looking around the room for the source of the sound, though she was still unable to place what it was as she tried to get her bearings together. She took a moment to focus on the sound, and her jaw almost dropped in surprise.

It was a whisper.

Now she whirled to find its source, looking around the room. It seemed to be coming from… the wall? She moved her head closer to the wall next to the bed. Yes, it was definitely coming from the wall. She had to strain to hear what it was saying, moving her head closer to the white-grey wall.

"…is anyone in there? Hello?" It whispered. At the moment Seline couldn't tell if it was male or female. "Psst!"

It took Seline a moment to remember that she was supposed to respond, but after a moment she whisper-shouted back to the voice, unsure if anyone would come walking down the hallway and hear her. "Hello?

"Oh, thank God. There is someone in there. Who are you?"

Seline gave a single, half-hysterical laugh. It felt so great to hear another human voice. One that she didn't feel was going to cause her harm, anyway. "I'm Seline. Who are you?" At closer inspection, Seline could now tell that the voice was male.

"Dennis Ward." Seline could hear a similar relief to her own in this boy's voice. "God, it feels nice to hear someone else's voice other than my own." That part seemed more directed to himself than to Seline.

"Yeah, no kiddi- wait. How long have you been in here?" Seline asked; from the way he'd said it, it seemed like he'd had no contact with anyone else in a while.

It took the boy a moment to answer, as if he had to think about it. "Hmm, two or three days now? Hard to tell without a window or a clock. But I've gone to sleep around three times now, so I'm just assuming." Okay, he'd been there longer than she had.

"Okay, and _how_ did you get here?" Did these people just kidnap everyone off the streets, or did they have some variety?

Again it took Dennis a moment or two to answer. And when he did, the semi-cheerful tone in his voice had vanished. "I… it's complicated. I don't really want to talk about it." Oops, touchy subject. Right then.

"Right, sorry. So um, do you have any idea where we actually _are?_" Hopefully _someone_ around here would be able to give her some answers.

Dennis sounded surprised, "You mean you don't know? We, my friend, are in the very heart of the Mars Industries production market." His voice held a tone of bitter sarcasm, and Seline could tell that there was definitely something going on with him. When Seline didn't respond, he continued, "Mars Industries? You know, only the biggest and richest military weapons provider in North America?" Seline still said nothing. "No?"

"I've never heard of it." She responded simply. But for some reason, the logo she'd seen on the computer screen the other day was floating around in her head, as if beckoning her to piece something important together.

"Think about it. You watch television?"

Seline found herself nodding only to remember that he couldn't actually see her. "Er, yeah."

"You seen the news recently?" At Seline's 'Mhmm', he continued, prompting her, helping her figure it out. "Well, all that coverage they've been doing on the war in Afghanistan or whatever, you know those tanks that they've shown? Or the turret things?" Another 'Mhmm?' from Seline. "What kind of logo was on the sides of those?"

_M.I._

Seline's jaw felt like it was going to hit the floor. "So you're telling me that I've just been kidnapped by a military company who sends freaking _tanks _to people?"

"That's the gist of it, yeah." Dennis replied, sounding tired. Seline didn't understand how he could be so calm about this. If he was right, which he probably was, and Seline was in the middle of a military base of operations thing, then her chances of even attempting an escape had just plummeted to nothing.

"Fan-freaking-tastic." She said with an exasperated sigh, leaning back against the wall in frustration. "So chances of getting out are pretty much zero, then, huh?"

"Seems like it. Sorry chica." And he did sound genuinely sorry.

"No, not your fault. Those stup-" But he suddenly cut her off with a 'Shh!' before she could finish. "Excuse me?"

"Shh! Listen." Seline was still confused about why he'd cut her off, but he seemed to know what he was talking about, and so she listened.

Footsteps.

"Shit, someone's coming." Seline heard something rustling around in Dennis' cell, and then suddenly he went quiet. Heart pounding, Seline didn't know what to do. There was nowhere for her to hide, and she really didn't want to speak to Ian or Quinn again, and so she figured that her best bet might be to just pretend to be asleep. Climbing under her blanket, head on her pillow, Seline simply laid there, listening closely to every sound around her.

All of a sudden, there was the jangle of keys, the shriek of a lock, and the groan of heavy metal hinges as the door was pushed open. Seline waited, but no one came in to her cell. Dennis' cell, then. But Seline could only stare at the wall between them as she continued to listen.

She could hear the footsteps in Dennis' cell now, silence for a moment, and then suddenly, "What the hell?! Get your hands off me! Let me go!" Seline could hear Dennis struggling, shouting curse words at whoever was in his room, but she could only stare at the wall in horror. "OW! What the hell was that?" He kept shouting, but his words were starting to slur together, the sounds of his struggling getting quieter and quieter, until silence returned to the room.

They'd drugged him. Typical.

Seline could hear the faint sounds of multiple people shuffling around in the cell, and then a voice. "Take him to containment. And get Meg to prep the lab for me, will you? I need to go find Quinn." _Ian. _Oh no. They were taking him. They couldn't take him! Not now!

But the painful truth was, yes they could. Right when Seline had found some form of comfort in the situation, naturally someone had to take that away from her.

There were multiple repeats of 'Yes sir' from different people, and then the sounds of the group leaving the room. Clang of keys, lock, door slamming closed, and just like that, the only decent person Seline had met since arriving was gone, leaving her alone and vulnerable and feeling very, very hopeless.


End file.
